Nalanda Open University (NOU) is a university at

Patna Patna (; , ISO 15919, ISO: ''Paṭanā''), historically known as Pataliputra, Pāṭaliputra, is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and largest city of the state of Bihar in India. According to the United Nations, ...

Bihar Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...

state, India. Nalanda Open University Degree/Diploma /Certificates are eligible for higher studies, public & private sector employment and service promotions. It is recognized by University Grants Commission (UGC). It is a member of Association of Indian Universities which is mainly concerned with the recognition of degrees/diplomas awarded by the Universities in India, which are recognized by the University Grants Commission, New Delhi, and abroad for the purpose of admission to higher degree courses in Indian Universities. It is an

open university The Open University (OU) is a Public university, public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by List of universities in the United Kingdom by enrolment, number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate ...

which means that it follows an

open-door academic policy An open-door academic policy, or open-door policy, is a policy whereby a university enrolls students without asking for evidence of previous education, experience, or references. Usually, payment of the academic fees (or financial support) is all t ...

and is open to everyone for admission with minimum requirements. It is the second largest open university in India after

Indira Gandhi National Open University Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) is a National university, public Open university (concept), open & Distance education, distance learning university located in Delhi, India. Named after the former Prime Minister of India, prime ...

(IGNOU). Initially the headquarter of the university was functioning from its camp office which is located at

Biscomaun Bhawan Biscomaun Bhawan is a public building that houses many of the administrative offices of Bihar. It houses many offices of the Bihar government, the Government of India, some private company offices, and the Nalanda Open University. It is the on ...

, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 12th Floors, Patna-800001. On 29 August 2023 Chief Minister Nitish Kumar inaugurated the newly constructed building of Nalanda Open University built at a cost of Rs 121 crore in Baragaon located in Silav area under

Nalanda district Nalanda district is one of the thirty-eight Districts of Bihar, districts of the state of Bihar in India. Bihar Sharif is the administrative headquarters of this district. The districts is home to the ancient Nalanda Mahavihara a UNESCO World He ...

. This campus of Nalanda Open University has been built in an area of 10 acres. It is adjacent to the ancient ruins of

Nalanda Nalanda (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: , ) was a renowned Buddhism, Buddhist ''mahavihara'' (great monastery) in medieval Magadha (Mahajanapada), Magadha (modern-day Bihar), eastern India. Widely considered to be am ...

. The campus is expected to be around 40 acres in area, with building having 1.10-lakh square feet built up space, and it is as per the requirement of UGC. In 2020, it became the first university in the state of Bihar to adopt the University Management Information System (UMIS) and with this, all processes related to admissions, examinations and publication of results has been made online.

History

The university was established in March 1987 by an ordinance issued by the

Government of Bihar Bihar Government is the State governments of India, state government of the States and territories of India, Indian state of Bihar and its nine Divisions of Bihar, divisions which consist of Districts of Bihar, districts. It consists of an execut ...

. It is the only university in the state of Bihar meant for imparting education exclusively through distance education. In 1995, the Nalanda Open University Act was passed by the legislature of Bihar replacing the earlier ordinance, and this university thereafter came under the authority and jurisdiction of the passed act. It is named after the famous Buddhist Nalanda University of

, the ancient seat of learning. Biscoman Bhawan 01

Courses

Degree courses at the undergraduate level and degree as well as diploma courses at the post-graduate level are offered. Certificate courses for 6 or 9 months are provided. Nalanda Open University is the only university where courses on

Bihari languages Bihari languages are a group of the Indo-Aryan languages. The Bihari languages are mainly spoken in the Indian states of Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal, and also in Nepal.Brass, Paul R. (1974). ''Language, Religion and Politi ...

(

Magahi Magahi (), also known as Magadhi (), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal states of eastern India, and in the Terai region of Nepal. Magadhi Prakrit was the ancestor of Magahi, from which the latter's name de ...

Bhojpuri Bhojpuri may refer to: * Bhojpuri language, an Indo-Aryan language of India and Nepal * Bhojpuri grammar, grammatical rules of the language * Bhojpuri nouns, nouns of the language * Bhojpuri people, people who speak the language * Bhojpuri region ...

, Maithili) are offered.

Post-graduate degree programs

NOU offers a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

(M.A) in

Rural Development Rural development is the process of improving the quality of life, quality of life and economic well-being of people living in rural areas, often relatively isolated and sparsely populated areas. Often, rural regions have experienced rural povert ...

Economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

Geography Geography (from Ancient Greek ; combining 'Earth' and 'write', literally 'Earth writing') is the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks an understanding o ...

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

History History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

, Political Science, Psychology, Sociology, Public Administration, Journalism & Mass Communication, Education and Urdu. The university offers a

Master of Science A Master of Science (; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree. In contrast to the Master of Arts degree, the Master of Science degree is typically granted for studies in sciences, engineering and medici ...

in Geography, Botany, Zoology, Chemistry, Physics and Mathematics. It offers Master of Computer Application (MCA), Master of Library & Information Science (One Year Course), and Master in Commerce (M.Com).

Post-graduate diploma programmes

The university offers post-graduate diploma programmes in Marketing Management, Financial Management, Journalism and Mass Communication, Yogic Studies and Disaster Management.

Graduate or degree programmes

The university offers B.A. Honours in Economics, Hindi, History, Political Science, Psychology, Sociology, Social Work, Geography, Tourism, and Home Science. NOU offers Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Botany, Chemistry, Geography, Mathematics, Physics, Zoology, and Home Science. It offers Bachelor of Commerce, Bachelor of Library and Information Science (one-year course), and Bachelor of Computer Applications.

Intermediate programmes

*Intermediate of Art *Intermediate of Commerce *Intermediate of Science

Certificate programmes

The university offers a nine-month certificate programme in Computing, Library Science, Clinical Dental Technique, Dental and Oral Hygiene, ECG Technique, Laboratory Technique, Medical Laboratory Technique, Physiotherapy and Yoga Therapy, and Operation Theatre Assistant. It offers a six-month programme in the languages of

, Maithili,

Pali Pāli (, IAST: pāl̤i) is a Classical languages of India, classical Middle Indo-Aryan languages, Middle Indo-Aryan language of the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pali Canon, Pāli Can ...

Prakrit Prakrit ( ) is a group of vernacular classical Middle Indo-Aryan languages that were used in the Indian subcontinent from around the 5th century BCE to the 12th century CE. The term Prakrit is usually applied to the middle period of Middle Ind ...

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

and the fields of Disaster Management, Indian Constitution and Panchayati Raj, Abolition of Child Labour, Bio-fertilizer Production, Buddhist Studies, Jain Studies, Child and Women Rights, Child Psychology and Guidance, Christian Studies, Environment Studies, Floriculture Technology, Health and Environment, Food and Nutrition, HIV and Family Education, Insurance Services, Hindu Studies, Islamic Studies, Sikh Studies,

Legal awareness Legal awareness, sometimes called public legal education or legal literacy, is the empowerment Empowerment is the degree of autonomy and self-determination in people and in communities. This enables them to represent their interests in a respons ...

among Women, Medicinal and Aromatic Plant, Nutrition and Child Care and Soil Health Management. NOU also offers a four-week certification programme in Home Usages of Computers.

Schools

*School of Computer Education and

Information Technology Information technology (IT) is a set of related fields within information and communications technology (ICT), that encompass computer systems, software, programming languages, data processing, data and information processing, and storage. Inf ...

*School of

Commerce Commerce is the organized Complex system, system of activities, functions, procedures and institutions that directly or indirectly contribute to the smooth, unhindered large-scale exchange (distribution through Financial transaction, transactiona ...

and

Management Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a Government agency, government bodies through business administration, Nonprofit studies, nonprofit management, or the political s ...

*School of Health and Environmental Science *School of Indian and

Foreign Languages A foreign language is a language that is not an official language of, nor typically spoken in, a specific country. Native speakers from that country usually need to acquire it through conscious learning, such as through language lessons at schoo ...

*School of

Indology Indology, also known as South Asian studies, is the academic study of the history and cultures, languages, and literature of the Indian subcontinent, and as such is a subset of Asian studies. The term ''Indology'' (in German, ''Indologie'') is ...

*School of

Journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree of accuracy. The word, a noun, applies to the journ ...

and

Mass Communication Mass communication is the process of imparting and exchanging information through mass media to large population segments. It utilizes various forms of media as technology has made the dissemination of information more efficient. Primary examples o ...

*School of Library and Information Science *School of Pure and

Agricultural Sciences Agricultural science (or agriscience for short) is a broad multidisciplinary field of biology that encompasses the parts of exact, natural, economic and social sciences that are used in the practice and understanding of agriculture. Professiona ...

*School of

Social Sciences Social science (often rendered in the plural as the social sciences) is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of society, societies and the Social relation, relationships among members within those societies. The term was former ...

*School of Teacher's Education

Recognition

NOU is a state open university duly established by an act of legislature of Bihar and is recognised by the Distance Education Council, UGC. Nalanda Open University Degrees/Diplomas/Certificates are eligible for higher studies, public & private sector employment and service promotions.

References

External links

Nalanda Open University
{{Authority control Open universities in India Universities in Patna Universities and colleges established in 1987 1987 establishments in Bihar Nalanda

History

Courses

Post-graduate degree programs

Post-graduate diploma programmes

Graduate or degree programmes

Intermediate programmes

Certificate programmes

Schools

Recognition

See also

References

External links